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Sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II
(1952)
Governor-General: Dame Pearlette
Louisy (1997)
Prime Minister: Kenny D. Anthony
(1997)
Current government officials
Land area: 236 sq mi (611 sq km); total
area: 238 mi (616 sq km)
Population (2007 est.): 170,649 (growth
rate: 1.3%); birth rate: 19.3/1000; infant mortality rate:
12.8/1000; life expectancy: 74.1; density per sq mi: 723
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Castries, 60,300
Monetary unit: East Caribbean
dollar
Languages:
English (official), French patois
Ethnicity/race:
black 82.5%, mixed 11%, East Indian 2.4%,
other or unspecified 3.1% (2001 census)
Religions:
Roman Catholic 68%, Seventh-Day Adventist 9%,
Pentecostal 6%, Evangelical 2%, Anglican 2%, other Christian 5%,
Rastafarian 2%, none 5% (2001)
Literacy rate: 90% (2001 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007
est.): $1.794 billion; per capita $10,700. Real growth rate:
3.2%. Inflation: 1.9%. Unemployment: 20% (2003 est.).
Arable land: 6.45% (2005 est.). Agriculture: bananas,
coconuts, vegetables, citrus, root crops, cocoa. Labor force:
43,800 (2001 est.); agriculture 21.7%, industry, commerce, and
manufacturing 24.7%, services 53.6% (2002 est.). Industries:
clothing, assembly of electronic components, beverages, corrugated
cardboard boxes, tourism; lime processing, coconut processing.
Natural resources: forests, sandy beaches, minerals (pumice),
mineral springs, geothermal potential. Exports: $288 million
(2006 est.): bananas 41%, clothing, cocoa, vegetables, fruits,
coconut oil. Imports: $791 million (2006 est.): food 23%,
manufactured goods 21%, machinery and transportation equipment 19%,
chemicals, fuels. Major trading partners: UK, U.S., Brazil,
Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago,
Venezuela, Finland (2004).
Member of Commonwealth of Nations
Communications: Telephones: main lines
in use: 51,100 (2002); mobile cellular: 105,700 (2005). Radio
broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 7 (plus 3 repeaters), shortwave 0
(2003). Radios: 111,000 (1997). Television broadcast
stations: 2 ((1 commercial broadcast station and 1 community
antenna television or CATV channel) (2003). Televisions:
32,000 (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 15 (2007).
Internet users: 55,000 (2004).
Transportation: Railways: 0 km.
Highways: total: 910 km; paved: 48 km; unpaved: 862 km (2000
est.). Ports and harbors: Castries, Vieux Fort.
Airports: 2 (2007).
International disputes: protests
Venezuela's claim to give full effect to Aves Island, which creates
a Venezuelan EEZ/continental shelf extending over a large portion of
the Caribbean Sea.
Major sources and definitions
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